Strangely, though, while Bader vs. Schafer and Hardonk vs. Barry were chosen for the broadcast, a fight between Yushin Okami (23-4 MMA, 7-1 UFC) and Chael Sonnen (23-10-1 MMA, 2-3 UFC) remains on the un-aired portion of the card. Okami is a longtime middleweight contender who’s only career UFC loss came via close decision to former champ Rich Franklin in 2007. However, many criticize the fighter for a lackluster fighting style that often leads to decisions.

Bader most recently fought in an April win over Carmelo Marrero at UFC Fight
Night 18. The Arizona Combat Sports-trained fighter injured his knee in
the contest, tearing both his MCL and PCL. It was the “TUF” champion’s
first bout since defeating Vinicius Magalhaes at The Ultimate Fighter 8
Finale in December 2008, Bader’s first official contest in the UFC.
Bader has won all nine of his professional fights, seven of them by stoppage.

His opponent, Schafer, is in his second stint with the UFC. After back-to-back losses
to Stephan Bonnar and Michael Bisping in 2006 and 2007, “Red” earned
two wins in the Wisconsin-based Gladiators Cage Fighting organization. Now back in the UFC, he has since defeated Antonio Mendes
and Houston Alexander to run his current win streak to four bouts.

Hardonk, meanwhile, most recently suffered a defeat via TKO to Cheick Kongo at UFC 97 in April. The loss snapped a three-fight win streak for the Dutch striker, a run
that included victories over Mike Wessel, Eddie Sanchez and Colin
Robinson.

Barry also looks to bounce back from a loss, which was the first of the former kickboxer’s MMA
career. After earning four-straight wins to open his career, which included a first-round TKO of Dan Evensen, Barry
suffered a submission loss to Tim Hague in May at UFC 98.

The UFC and Spike TV first used the teaser-fight setup last month for UFC 103 in Dallas. The Sept. 19 broadcast, which featured Efrain Escudero vs. Cole Miller and Tomasz Drwal vs Drew McFedries, drew 1.4 million viewers (1.0 rating) and was the No. 2 rated program in the coveted 18-to-34 year old male demographic.

Following UFC 103, UFC president Dana White told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) he wasn’t sure if the organization would use other Spike TV/PPV tandem cards in the future. However, the organization apparently will do so with its first opportunity. Still, it’s not known if this will be a standard setup for future cards or simply a matter of the UFC again gathering data.

Regardless, Spike TV officials said the broadcast will air commercial-free.